ves.

In one marshy valley they had passed pools of water, sulphur yellow,
bright green, pink, crimson, and nearly all colors of the rainbow, the
pools being from twenty to fifty feet apart.

They had seen other things which were not given a second glance by Old
Rocks, but which Frank longed to stop and examine.

But it was no time for sight-seeing, as the boy well knew, and he held
close to the heels of the unwearying guide.

And now, near nightfall, Old Rocks declared that the trail was getting
hot.

"Shall we be able to overtake them before dark?" asked Frank, with the
greatest anxiety.

"I dunno," was the answer. "But it's derned certun thet we ain't goin'
ter come fur from it."

"Oh, for two hours more of daylight!" sighed the boy.

"We'd run ther critters down dead sure in thet time. But I don't want
yer ter git ther idee thet they're goin' ter give up ther gal 'thout a
murmur."

"But they will have to give her up."

"Thet's whatever. All ther same, we may hev ter fight, an' ole Half Hand
is a mighty bad critter ter buck agin'; you hear me shout!"

"I am ready to fight, if necessary."

"Ef I'd heerd yer say so this mornin', I w'u'dn't putt no dependence on
it; but now I'll allow thet yer means whut yer says, an' yer've got sand
ter give erway. Boy, you're a holy terror on trucks, an' you may quote
me ez sayin' so."

Frank did not smile.

"Wait," he said. "I may not show up so well in the encounter with the
Blackfeet. I was lucky in the bear fight."

"Wa-al, dog my cats ef you ain't ther fust tenderfut I ever saw thet
wouldn't hev bragged his head off ef he'd killed a grizzly! Why, boy,
you don't seem ter know whut ye've done! You've made a record. Ary other
tenderfut I ever saw'd go back East an' publish ther story in all ther
papers. He'd be hailed ez a mighty chief an' a tin god on wheels."

"Tenderfeet are not all braggarts, any more than Westerners are all
brave men."

"Thet's whatever," nodded Rocks; "but it's took me a gaul derned long
time ter find it out."

The sun was low behind the western mountains, and darkness was filling
the great canyons.

The guide swung onward at a steady pace, following the trail with the
same readiness and ease that had proved a source of wonder all along to
his companion.

It was evident the Blackfeet had not anticipated hot pursuit, and so
they had made little or no effort to hide their trail after passing
across an arm of the lake.

The trail gre